


Unsettled by Love

by Oliver__Niko



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [4]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Child Abandonment, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Gen, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Neglect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23359762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oliver__Niko/pseuds/Oliver__Niko
Summary: Bede has never known what affection feels like. Despite doing all he can to receive Rose's praise, to be of use to him, care is something he has never had back. Loving Opal, and simply letting her hold him, is terrifying. But even he can let himself be vulnerable sometimes.
Relationships: Beet | Bede & Poplar | Opal
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1662550
Comments: 14
Kudos: 89





	Unsettled by Love

**Author's Note:**

> Here's something I knew I had to write when receiving my Bad Things Happen prompts. I've wanted to explore Opal and Bede's relationship, and the emotions behind her taking him in.
> 
> The prompt in question is, 'Neglect/abandonment.' I hope you enjoy!

It’s tonight, as rain falls down over Ballonea, that Bede allows Opal to hug him for the first time.

She has tried on a number of occasions already. It took little time at all for her to grow an attachment to this boy, realise how much more he is to her than merely a successor for Ballonea’s gym. Her instincts to care for him, to raise him when the rest of the world refuses to, are alike to that of a grandmother protecting her grandson.

She accepts this easily. Bede, who surely feels the same bond, doesn’t do the same so much. She can see that newfound brightness in his eyes. There is fear in them as well, however, and uncertainty. She is able to guess why. He’s scared of being left alone again. It is as clear as day, when he apologises over mistakes in a terrified voice, and he bows his head in an obedient manner.

To others, it may be out of character. But Opal can hear what he says underneath those words: _please don’t leave me as well. I can’t be alone again._

She knows little of his past, no more than anyone else. Bede was abandoned as a child. Rose took him from the orphanage, and used him to gather Wishing Stars under the pretence of raising a son. Threw him away the moment he made a mistake.

This is already cruel enough as it is. There is no doubt in Opal’s mind that Bede is convinced the same will happen again. Although what Opal does question, for it seems even deeper than what she knows, is the other signs of this boy’s neglect.

How he questions when Opal does something kind for him, simply as any family would do, as though he cannot comprehend receiving care for nothing in return. The way he flinches if Opal reaches near him.

Not to hurt him. _Never_ to hurt him. But just because she, someone who sees this boy’s true heart and potential, would never do as such, this does not mean that others would not.

Bede has always tensed when she approaches him closely. Every time her arms intend to wrap around him, he wriggles out of his supposed prison, mumbling something along the lines of how strange it is.

Strange. Strange, for a child to be _hugged_ by his elders. The very thought breaks Opal’s heart, and she cannot help but question if he has ever received affection. Even something as simple as a pat on the head. He seems to thrive off praise as though it’s his only life source, giving Opal every mind to believe that pretty words, words that will coax more use out of him, is the closest this boy has ever had to ‘love.’

But tonight is different. Because tonight, as she knocks on Bede’s door to tell him that food will be prepared in a few minutes, the sound of crying freezes her heart.

She rushes into the room in a heartbeat. “Bede?” Her eyes land on the bed, where they find him curled up, face hidden in the arms resting on his pillow.

“Get out!” The cry is muffled, and Bede’s form becomes smaller.

“Why are you crying?”

“I’m _not_ crying.”

A sad smile appears on Opal’s face. She sits down on the bed, waiting for Bede to cry out at her again, but he doesn’t. “I don’t know if I quite believe that.”

“It’s not—doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me, sweetheart.”

The nickname causes Bede to tense further. “Stop acting like you care.”

“But I—”

“No one does, _he_ never did, and I bet—I bet you’re just softening me up, so you can tell me that I can’t lose again!”

So that is what this is about. Bede suffered a loss in the gym today, quite a rare incident since he became appointed as gym leader. If he was anyone else, she would deem such an emotional response as odd—to this degree, at least. But with Bede, she understands.

“You’re allowed to lose. I have done many times throughout my career. Gym Leaders should be strong, but not undefeatable.”

“I don’t … I still …”

“Please sit up, my boy.”

She waits for him to do so, not wanting to rush him. He remains still for some time. Eventually, his arms shift so they push him up, one lifting to rub at his face. His red and puffy eyes suggest he has been crying for some time already.

“I’m not going to force you to leave here,” says Opal.

“What if you find someone better? Someone more suitable to be a Gym Leader?”

“I’m not going to find them, not when you are the perfect fit. Bede, I am not going to leave you.”

“That’s what _he_ said.” A whisper, and more tears trickling down Bede’s face.

“Rose?”

He nods. “When he took me in, he promised that I wouldn’t be abandoned anymore. But—b-but the moment I started affecting his reputation, he …”

“It was cruel of him, to punish you so harshly, so abruptly,” says Opal quietly. “I am not going to try and say you have not done misdeeds. But you’re still a child.”

“I’m not a child.”

“But you _are,_ no matter how much Rose forced you to age beyond your years. And children should not simply be abandoned the moment that they make mistakes.” Opal’s aged hand reaches for Bede’s face. He flinches, which causes her to remain still, up until he relaxes again and she can cup his cheek. Her thumb rubs away his tears. “I will not do the same. I know that you will never play up that much, for you seem to love staying here. However, if you did as such, I would make sure the consequences are reasonable.”

Bede’s eyes close, leaning into her hand. “I … I do like it here. A lot.”

“I can tell, dear. Would you like to talk about why?”

“… I feel like I can chase my actual passions here, that you encourage them. I can get stronger here, and keep on improving myself as a person.” There’s a pause, Bede licking his lips, “And … And I get to be with you.”

“And that makes you afraid.”

Bede nods, turning his face away from her hand. “I’ve never had someone who wants to take care of me, or … wants me to grow stronger for _me,_ not them.”

“Rose never gave you affection, did he?”

“I … I don’t know. I don’t understand it.” Bede looks down at his lap, picking at his nails. “He … he did give me praise. And he made me do things for him.”

“Gather the Wishing Stars?”

“That, and …” Those shoulders hunch over a little more. “Stuff I never really understood. So I could prove to him that I had worth to stay, I suppose, and …”

A cold chill runs over Opal’s body. “What kind of stuff, dear?”

“It’s—I don’t want to …” Bede shakes his head, and whispers, “Please don’t make me talk about it.”

Opal shakes her head. “I will never push you. Please, come here.”

Bede’s face lifts. There are fresh tears pouring down it. She opens her arms. Keeping her distance, letting him come to her, if that is what he chooses to do. And, after flickering his gaze between those arms and Opal’s face, he does. He shuffles forward, hesitantly bringing his arms underneath hers and leaning the side of his face against her shoulder.

“There, dear.” She wraps her own arms around him in turn, hand brushing through those curls. “Isn’t that lovely?”

“I … I think so.”

“Whenever you want to cry, or even simply fancy it, you can embrace me like this. Do you understand?”

Bede nods. His head shifts, so his face is buried in her shoulder. “I’ve wanted to do this for a while. But I was scared. I didn’t know what it felt like, and I was worried that it’d be nice, only … only for it to not happen anymore.”

Opal’s eyes close as she brings him that little closer. Pain and sympathy burn her, yet the love in her heart is far more powerful. “This won’t be the last time, I promise. And I will not hurt you like he did. Never, love.”

He nods his head against her. “Okay. And I promise I won’t mess everything up, not like I did with him.”

When Opal’s opens her eyes, they are filled with tears. It was never Bede who ruined everything. He would have never been pushed to that extent to please Rose, to be praised, if he had ever simply been _loved._ If he had been given the care that any child deserves.

“You don’t have to promise that. I already know.”

And she would sacrifice all she has, if it meant to protect those genuine smiles and bright eyes, and to grant this boy the life he has always deserved.

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to visit my Tumblr, oliverniko, if you'd like to request a Bad Things Happen fic. You can also find both angst and fluff prompts to request on my Twitter, Oliver__Niko! Thank you for reading.


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